The boos are on hold for now, as Raburn scrounged up a couple of hits, and the Tigers won their 2nd consecutive Interleague series.

(Update: Raburn will be playing LF. Resumption-of-booing-needle swings toward Likely).

Detroit goes for three against the Colorado Rockies, once briefly home of Ol’ Smokey himself. The Rockies are 13-8 against Detroit in IL play, and have won the last two series.

The opener of the series sees Casey Crosby take his 3rd career start, and attempt to keep his ERA in single digits (9.35). Crosby will face lefty Jeff Francis, whose return to Colorado after a year sabbatical in Kansas City has been quite rocky (0-1, 21.60 ERA). Doubtless tonight will be a pitcher’s duel.

Stat of the Day: Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder are a combined 5-for-27 (.185) lifetime against Jeff Francis.

Tonight’s Player of the Pre-game: Austin Jackson. AJax continues to have the hot bat. In addition, Rockies star Carlos Gonzalez has 16 home runs, but 12 of them have come in the mountain air of Colorado. In Comerica he will be leaving his shots on the warning track, and Jackson is there to haul them in.

41 Comments

Jerry The Tiger Fan

June 15, 2012 at 3:25 pm

I know everyone is talking about Garza and Dempster being available from the Cubs, but I wonder if Barney (their 2B) could be pryed away if we dealt them a pitching prospect like Oliver or Crosby. I was really impressed with him in our series against the Cubs and he could potentially solve our second base woes for the forseeable future. He plays a decent second base, hits for a decent average, and has a little bit of speed. NO power to speak of really but we don’t need a 20 HR guy with bats like Cabrera and Fielder on the roster. I think he’d be great in either the 2 hole because he looks like he gets on base often enough and seems to be able to do things such as bunt and move runners over. This is the guy I’d be calling Theo Epstein about if I’m Dave Dombrowski.

Kevin in Dallas

June 15, 2012 at 3:27 pm

I laughed at the needle swing comment. Nice work.

Jud

June 15, 2012 at 7:26 pm

I swung my needle towards boooo as soon as I saw he was starting in left….

Vince in MN

June 15, 2012 at 7:28 pm

Great opportunity this weekend. The Rockies are reelin’ (as opposed to rollin’ – ge it – rockies and rollin’). A sweep would be sweet. Time to put the mettle to the pedal boys,

The lineup looks a little funny though, but I guess JL doesn’t want anybody to get rusty. Berry is ready to pinch run at a moment’s notice and we can count on JV to bunt in a critical situation, so what more could you ask.

Chris in Texas

June 15, 2012 at 7:41 pm

Do the Tigers realize that this guy will try to not throw any strikes and if they keep swinging at the crap he is throwing up there, then he will give us nothing all night. His stuff is awful, he relies on the hitters to get themselves out…so, far, the Tigers are doing their part. They are doing a good job getting into good hitters counts’ but, they still need to be patient. Danny and Raburn swung at balls ahead in the count 2-1 and squandered a good scoring chance. They will need to score because Crosby is a minor league pitcher at best. I don’t think he is even a good AAA pitcher…Get Below up in the pen. Why does Below not just start?

Vince in MN

June 15, 2012 at 7:46 pm

Crosby MAY have a future as a big league pitcher, but can somebidy expalin to m why the brain trust insists it is now?

Vince in MN

June 15, 2012 at 7:55 pm

Lucky. Get him out of there.

Chris in Texas

June 15, 2012 at 8:01 pm

Boesch is a pretty good run producer,but, he is terrible at giving himself up for the team. Miggy gets it done.

Jud

June 15, 2012 at 8:06 pm

good to see some balls bouncing off walls at home..hasnt been a lot of that it seems

Chris in Texas

June 15, 2012 at 8:21 pm

Hopefully, that will be the last of Casey Crosby for 2012. You can’t win, if you can’t throw strikes and he walked another 4 in 3 and 2/3. He gave up a HR, 2B, 3B, How are we only down 1? I know Jim wants to protect his pen,but, he should have been pulled after we took the lead, it was obvious, he would give it back up…but, no manager would pull his starter w/ a lead after 2 innings. That experiment has to be over. I would be shocked if that kid ever becomes a major league starter. Hopefully, Below can get a win.

Vince in MN

June 15, 2012 at 8:28 pm

3 starts too many. The results have been so predictable. What were they thinking?

Chris in Texas

June 15, 2012 at 8:32 pm

Boesch is clueless against Francis.

Jud

June 15, 2012 at 8:32 pm

they have to make a move to activate Fister…it has to be Crosby …doesnt it…

Kevin in Dallas

June 15, 2012 at 8:37 pm

I’m sure that’s going to happen tonight or tomorrow morning.

22 of AJax’s 52 hits are XBH.

Former Tiger Aubrey Huff injured himself jumping over the railing after Cain’s perfect game.

Coleman

June 15, 2012 at 9:32 pm

HR Huffnstuff… he’s a baseball Grammatica

Vince in MN

June 15, 2012 at 9:37 pm

More details on the type of injury, please.

Jud

June 15, 2012 at 8:42 pm

i see Inge stranded 9 yesterday..he’s returning to normal after all the hype

why do we have to be told be Rod and Mario the speed of every sigle pitch of the entire season that goes 95 or better.? especialy when its flashed on the scoreboard screen on the TV

Jud

June 15, 2012 at 9:34 pm

as good of an at bat that was why did we know it would end with an out not in the strike zone

Vince in MN

June 15, 2012 at 9:36 pm

Delmon Young – I’d walk Cabrera and Fielder every time, just to pitch to him.

Coleman

June 15, 2012 at 9:43 pm

I’d walk Jackson, Boesch, Cabrera, and Fielder just to pitch to him. But that’s just me.

Vince in MN

June 15, 2012 at 9:43 pm

So many scoring opportunities, so few runs.

Vince in MN

June 15, 2012 at 10:11 pm

Leyland’s bullpen management is so pathetic.

Vince in MN

June 15, 2012 at 10:23 pm

Berry pinch-hitting for Haladay doesn’t make any sense either. Danger Will Robinson, Leyalnd is “thinking.”

StorminNorman$

June 15, 2012 at 10:31 pm

i am a little surprised and please that he brought back Benoit for the 8th, so that if it goes 12 innings, Kelly won’t have to pitch…

Tigers better end it in the 9th so they don’t have to roll out the big potato in the 10th

StorminNorman$

June 15, 2012 at 10:48 pm

and that my friends is how you lose to a team that comes limping into town with an 8 game losing streak…

Vince in MN

June 15, 2012 at 11:02 pm

That is also how you get a team with an 8-game losing streak back on track.

Vince in MN

June 15, 2012 at 10:43 pm

Colorado should try a triple steal here.

Jud

June 15, 2012 at 10:52 pm

lets see Peralta was not in on the grass to play n and he wasn’t back in DP depth either…do any of the coaches know this..had he been out of clown position he could have made either play!!!!

oh and I am so glad Mumbles brought in ValVerde in a non save situaion….clown show loss

Jud

June 15, 2012 at 10:54 pm

ValVerde gets tomorrow off now….clown organization!!!!!

StorminNorman$

June 15, 2012 at 10:55 pm

wonder if JL has Valverde on a 100 pitch count limit… he’s heading there

StorminNorman$

June 15, 2012 at 10:56 pm

What a cluster-cuss that inning was for Valverde…i suspect within the week, he’ll be placed on the DL to nurse his deeply bruised ego, though the cover story will be stiffness in the back or elbow or something

Vince in MN

June 15, 2012 at 10:58 pm

Hey Jim, use ‘em all.

Jud

June 15, 2012 at 11:01 pm

Mumbles it is OVER..put in Kelly..it would be your smartest pitching decision of he day

StorminNorman$

June 15, 2012 at 11:10 pm

almost criminal to think that Valverde only gets charged 1 ER for that hot mess.

Any fan that bought a ticket at Comerica and sat through that 10th should be due a refund. That was the epitome of an ugly loss.

Kevin in Dallas

June 16, 2012 at 12:03 am

Pitcher’s errors should count towards ERA.

Good thing that Valverde is wasted for the series now. He’s been pitching pretty well, I don’t mind an off night every 10 outings. Good work JL.

Chris in Texas

June 16, 2012 at 12:34 am

I just watched the DVR, well I fast forwarded through the Valverde disaster,so, I am not sure exactly what happened. If the Tigers take the next 2, then I will not care about this loss. Just keep winning series. I thought the Rockies were brilliant tonight, they pitched around AJaxx, when Boesch looked like a little leaguer against Francis…That saved an RBI. Then what I think more teams should do against Detroit, if the circumstances call for it…They basically walked both Miggy and Fielder w/ a man on 2nd and 2 outs. Delmon young predictably didn’t come through in a tie game.

Why would anybody pitch to Miggy or Prince in the clutch, with Young batting behind them? The Tigers have two glaring needs moving forward:

1) They need another starter (Smyly doesn’t go deep enough in games and Porcello is really a 5th starter) The strain on the pen, costs them more games down the road.

2) They need a real #5 hitter. Delmon Young has been OK, but, considering that our top 4 hitters have been excellent, why does he only have 2 more RBI then Avila? We could do much worse than Delmon Young…but, if you could pick up Carlos Quentin as a rental for say…Casey Crosby or Andrew Oliver, I would strongly consider making that move. You put him in the 5 hole and add a starter…Then you could win this division and let’s face it…most of these Tigers prospects have been overvalued by other teams.

Chris in Texas

June 16, 2012 at 1:16 am

The White Sox lose on a wild pitch…so, they remain only 4 games out…They are closer to 4th then to 2nd. I also have had to listen to all this talk about last year..so, I checked and last year through 64 games..The Tigers were 35-29 and tied for first. So, let’s quit pretending that the Tigers came from out of nowhere last year. The shocking thing last year was, for the first time under Leyland they had a good 2nd half and that was in large part because of trades. I believe if we are going to have a good 2nd half, then we will need to make a couple more good trades.

Jerry The Tiger Fan

June 16, 2012 at 3:32 am

I would go ask about Barney (Cubs 2B) and end the Raburn clown show at second base. Use Santiago as a utility guy who gives Barney and Peralta some days off and go from there. As far as another starter goes, what prospects do we have that anyoen would be interested in? Oliver and Crosby have both been overmatched when they have received their shots to pitch in the big leagues.

Chris in Texas

June 16, 2012 at 10:08 am

Jerry, I agree about our prospects…but, look who we gave up to get Fister last year? You could always trade a guy we just drafted and call him a player to be named later. These other teams continue to overvalue Tigers prospects,so, a deal is out there to be made. Ask yourself this question..How can the Tigers go on a run w/ Porcello and a rookie. That is too much to hide on a rotation. Today, we have nobody any good available in our pen and Fister is making his first start off the DL (so 6 innings is probably the maximum) Then we have Weber, Putkonnen, and somebody else. Yikes.

Latest Comments

jud I know it was only an exhibition game ...but...I don't know if I can take that much hysterical laughter from

Coleman http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=12413132&categoryid=2521705
On the other hand, Verlander is "confident" and "ready to go," so there's that.

Smoking Loon Good article, Kevin.
Did anyone else have the thought last year that perhaps the biggest problem with Verlander was... predictability? He

Kevin in Dallas Neither does this story.
http://www.mlive.com/tigers/index.ssf/2015/02/detroit_tigers_bring_back_righ_1.html

Kevin in Dallas This picture does not instill a whole bunch of confidence.
http://www.mlive.com/tigers/#/0

Coleman Check out this one: http://www.mlive.com/tigers/index.ssf/2015/02/report_relief_pitcher_joba_cha.html#incart_more_sports
He shaved the beard! And looks like he dropped a few pounds too.

StorminNorman$ http://m.tigers.mlb.com/news/article/110232762/joba-chamberlain-signs-with-detroit-tigers
low price, potential high yield... or maybe not. Whatever the case, Joba certainly said all the right things.

Jim EggersUSMC I concur K in D, am hoping for a good but not great season from JV. Seemed to me he

StorminNorman$ Great info/research Kevin! One point to clarify and factor into the analysis: JV did make $20M last year, but

Coleman Verlander had core muscle surgery last January. Could it be, at his age, and with the type of pitcher he